Man charged with murder after ambush kills Philadelphia officer and wounds another

Eric Lewis, 35, was taken before Municipal Court early Sunday and charged with murder for the fatal shooting of Philadelphia police officer Shane Seiber, as well as ten counts of attempted murder and assault on officers. The incident unfolded just after midnight on the 100 block of North 52nd Street in West Philadelphia when officers arrived to investigate a report of a man with a gun on Lewis’s porch. Lewis opened fire, delivering three gunshot wounds to Seiber and twelve to a second, 33-year-old officer who remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition.

During the attack Lewis seized one of the officers’ guns, prompting a SWAT response and a brief standoff during which he climbed a nearby tree before being ordered to surrender. Police recovered two handguns and a shotgun at the scene, and Lewis was booked into Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility without bail, represented by the Defender Association of Philadelphia. District Attorney Larry Krasner called the act a “brazen and disturbing act of violence” and said his office will pursue full accountability.